Mysterious LEC of Robinson Crusoe
ConversazioniGeorge Macy devotees
Iscriviti a LibraryThing per pubblicare un messaggio.
1ExLibrisDavid
After recently finishing reading The Moonstone, I decided to take up the character Betteredges's suggestion and read Robinson Crusoe. For those who haven't read The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins (I highly recommend it) one of the main characters is convinced that all of life's answers are contained within Robinson Crusoe, and he often opens the book up, reads a random page and find a quote that helps shed light on his current situation. Anyway, while looking on the 'Bay for Robinson Crusoe, I came across what at first looked to be a rebound LEC version in green leather with custom green marbled end papers.
While there was a bit of wear to the outside, it all seemed well and good. However, I then noticed that this specific book was unnumbered and unsigned!
I've never heard of such a thing before, so my curiosity got the best of me and I purchased it hoping that perhaps there would be an inscription or note inside that explained it's history. Alas, when it arrived the only other bit of information was that someone had used it for a flower press.
Note that the pages aren't really that yellowed in person, it's just the lighting I had when photographing the book. Has anyone heard of an unnumbered/unsigned LEC before? Any guesses as to the history of this book? Thanks! Mysterious
While there was a bit of wear to the outside, it all seemed well and good. However, I then noticed that this specific book was unnumbered and unsigned!
I've never heard of such a thing before, so my curiosity got the best of me and I purchased it hoping that perhaps there would be an inscription or note inside that explained it's history. Alas, when it arrived the only other bit of information was that someone had used it for a flower press.
Note that the pages aren't really that yellowed in person, it's just the lighting I had when photographing the book. Has anyone heard of an unnumbered/unsigned LEC before? Any guesses as to the history of this book? Thanks! Mysterious
2Glacierman
>1 ExLibrisDavid: Odd and strange copies of LEC books crop up from time to time.
On your copy, there's no sign of the embossed seal that was used to indicate the, usually 25, copies set aside for presentation, so I would suggest that what you have is possibly a printer's binding. The Grabhorns may have printed a few extra copies for their own use and had them bound to their liking, sort of a printer's proof copy. These would, of course, be outside the normal limitation.
I have something similar. It is a copy of the Popul Vuh which lacks the full page portraits normally found at the beginning of the book and is bound in a variant binding (qtr. cloth over boards) that apparently is one of 3 such done by the printer (Plantin Press) for their own use. The dealer I got it from described it as a "trial binding," which, I suppose is possible, and it is nothing like the binding on the regular LEC issue. I don't see it as a "trial" so much as a copy bound for the Press' own use. It lacks the portraits because after printing, the sheets were sent to New York for binding by Russell-Rutter and to have those portraits added in as they were printed by another company, not Plantin Press. It also happens to be a presentation copy from the artist and includes an original signed pencil sketch on the bastard title and is unsigned and unnumbered on the colophon page.
These oddities pop up from time to time, and it is always fun (at least for me) to pick them up. It adds a little spice to your LEC collection. Nice find!
On your copy, there's no sign of the embossed seal that was used to indicate the, usually 25, copies set aside for presentation, so I would suggest that what you have is possibly a printer's binding. The Grabhorns may have printed a few extra copies for their own use and had them bound to their liking, sort of a printer's proof copy. These would, of course, be outside the normal limitation.
I have something similar. It is a copy of the Popul Vuh which lacks the full page portraits normally found at the beginning of the book and is bound in a variant binding (qtr. cloth over boards) that apparently is one of 3 such done by the printer (Plantin Press) for their own use. The dealer I got it from described it as a "trial binding," which, I suppose is possible, and it is nothing like the binding on the regular LEC issue. I don't see it as a "trial" so much as a copy bound for the Press' own use. It lacks the portraits because after printing, the sheets were sent to New York for binding by Russell-Rutter and to have those portraits added in as they were printed by another company, not Plantin Press. It also happens to be a presentation copy from the artist and includes an original signed pencil sketch on the bastard title and is unsigned and unnumbered on the colophon page.
These oddities pop up from time to time, and it is always fun (at least for me) to pick them up. It adds a little spice to your LEC collection. Nice find!
3maisiedotes
I haven't read Robinson Crusoe, but I did wonder about the connection when I was reading The Moonstone. Maybe when you've read Robinson Crusoe you could enlighten us (using the anti-spoiler feature?). What are the passages that shed light on the mysteries?
Enjoy your seemingly one-of-a-kind copy!
Enjoy your seemingly one-of-a-kind copy!
4ExLibrisDavid
>2 Glacierman: Thank you for sharing your insights! It makes sense that once the printer went to all the trouble to create the proof book that they wouldn't want to just throw it away.
Interesting story about your Popul Vuh, I'd imagine that signed pencil sketch certainly makes it special!
Interesting story about your Popul Vuh, I'd imagine that signed pencil sketch certainly makes it special!
6Glacierman
>5 mr.philistine: The terminology of these pages with naught but the title on them is a bit muddy. Today, and with but rare exception, after the last free endsheet=fly leaf, a leaf with only the title printed on the recto (front) appears before the true title page. This, in common parlance, is the half-title, although it once was frequently called the bastard title, and is considered to be the first page of the text block. However, very often (not so much today), a second such leaf appeared AFTER the title page and BEFORE the text proper. In such a case, that first one is called the 'bastard title' and the second one, the one after the title page, is the 'half title'.
In the case of the LEC Popol Vuh---as indeed with modern books in general---the terms 'bastard title' and 'half-title' are synonymous. I do have older books with both. I also have books with nothing prior to the true title page, but do have a half-title after it. And many contemporary books are printed without either.
As to why a bastard/half title even exists, I recommend for your enlightenment the following article: A History of the Bastard Title.
Just to clarify terms, a leaf is two pages: the front (recto) and the back (verso). The front is odd-numbered and the back, even-numbered.
In the case of the LEC Popol Vuh---as indeed with modern books in general---the terms 'bastard title' and 'half-title' are synonymous. I do have older books with both. I also have books with nothing prior to the true title page, but do have a half-title after it. And many contemporary books are printed without either.
As to why a bastard/half title even exists, I recommend for your enlightenment the following article: A History of the Bastard Title.
Just to clarify terms, a leaf is two pages: the front (recto) and the back (verso). The front is odd-numbered and the back, even-numbered.
Iscriviti per commentare
